Getting ready for the big day...

There's no getting away from it putting up a polytunnel 84ft x 30ft is a big job and a lot of work, with so many different tasks that need to be completed in a prescribed order. Its a little bit like building a house, building the walls and getting the roof timbers on is only just the start, getting the hoops of the tunnel up was major progress, but there is still heaps to do and of course the tricky bit - that big piece of polythene... But our first task was getting ready for it.

The next job was to cover the sections of the hoops that were to have contact with the polythene, with hot spot tape.

Hot spot tape is a very sticky foam tape which provides a cushion between the hoop and the polythene , but also stops the hoops burning the plastic, making it brittle when they heat up in the sun. 15 hoops and each over 13 feet tall meant several hours work on a very high step ladder - but a very necessary job - which extends the life of the plastic significantly.

Our tunnel has got side ventilation and this needed to be fitted before the main plastic, in theory quite straight forward - but over an 84ft length definitely needed two pairs of hands. First we needed to fit a length of polythene attached to a winder that can be adjusted up and down to regulate the ventilation

Next it was a length of green netting on top, this was a little more fiddly.

Doors on, hot spot tape completed and side ventilation panels and netting all in place - we were ready for the main event - the covering - but we needed a calm day and they seem to be few and far between at the moment what with the stormy winds of Ophelia and Brian recently, a day without wind feels like a rare event.